The only specialty that I have, Photography, has been disparingly mentioned twice here. Amusing, because this is a complex subject, even for an accomplished on land photographer.
Has SCUBA training gone too far?
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That's a good point. For a diver, the education is valuable, but a C-card probably not so much. However, if you want documented training to get a job as a dive pro or photo pro at a resort or to get a job where documented training in U/W photography is helpful then a specialty C-card is very useful.
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... there is one ... a friend of mine offered it last Halloween ...
Frankly, if there wasn't a market for all these specialties, they wouldn't exist. People dive for all sorts of reasons, and come with all sorts of personalities, ability levels and learning styles. I don't really offer much in the line of specialties ... I prefer to teach workshops that focus on strengthening specific skills without the need for specific criteria or a c-card. But many divers like taking specialty classes ... even if they understand that other people will think of them as a waste of time and money. Unless it's your time and your money, why should you care? They make some people happy ... and that is, after all, the whole point of diving.
Just because you don't want it or need it doesn't mean everybody else feels the same way. Nobody is forcing anyone to take a specialty class. Once you've got your OW card, if you think that's all you need, then go diving. There's plenty of people who learn everything they need that way. For others, the structure of a class gives them something they feel is worth the investment ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
scubastingray
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I've had several students approach me about taking an underwater photographer class. When I tell them how I would teach the class, with an emphasis on positioning, buoyancy control, and anti-silting kicks, they back off and go find someone else.
Using the camera is only part of taking a good picture. The other is being able to frame your shot, hold yourself in position until the conditions are right to take the shot, and doing so in a way that doesn't blow out the vis or create a lot of backscatter. When people ask me how I manage to make my images "pop", those are the first three things I mention.
Just because a specialty class comes with a particular title doesn't mean that you won't be working on some aspects of basic skills in that class ... often the skills needed to successfully achieve the objectives of the class require you to take your basic skills to a higher level ... and that turns out to be the real value of taking that particular specialty.
Anybody who thinks underwater basket weaving is easy hasn't tried it ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
drinksfromtap
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I think changing a lot of the specialty "certifications" to specialty "courses," and limiting C-cards to only the core-type courses that cover broad classes of dives and the gas mixes that you breathe would be a positive step. You'd get "certified" for things like OW, AOW, Rescue, Nitrox, Tech, Cave, and similar, but you'd only get something like a wall hanger certificate for completing courses like fish ID, night, peak performance buoyancy, etc. To me, at least, it'd feel less like a money grab if agencies did it that way.
Another way of thinking - if an agency only issued physical C-cards, would you consider paying for a replacement for a specialty if you lost it? If no, then maybe there's not a need to be "certified" for it.
Another way of thinking - if an agency only issued physical C-cards, would you consider paying for a replacement for a specialty if you lost it? If no, then maybe there's not a need to be "certified" for it.
Some want to take these courses and some don't. The value is to the individual to decide. If it's not for you don't take it but why disparage someone that wants the information or experience????
Rather than offer all these "specialty" courses (most of which barely prepare you for that specialty), I'd like to see the agencies spend more time actually training OW students to be better divers. My OW class in the 60s was THREE WEEKS long and pretty much covered everything through today's Rescue Diver. Once they receive better training, I have no problem with such specialty courses since they are elective.
TraceMalin, you lost me at #3. Although diving in general may be safer with an EMT at every dive, you would surely eliminate many current divemasters and above. You would also discourage new pros from entering the already under-paid and over-worked field of diving. Actually, both scuba and EMS for that matter. I won't even get into the cost of attending an EMT course. Please, please, please, don't give PADI the idea of developing an EMT training curriculum. Yikes!!
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